East Carolina has potential to be trouble for Virginia Tech again

September 13, 2013|By Norm Wood, nwood@dailypress.com

Standing on the Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium grass minutes after Virginia Tech's 17-10 win in 2011 in its last trip to East Carolina, Tech coach Frank Beamer read from a list of eight mortal sins he saw his team commit during the game.

Eight first-half penalties, a red-zone interception by sophomore Logan Thomas, two interceptions by Tech's defense negated by penalties, a lost fumble by David Wilson, a missed field goal, a dropped pass in the end zone, two more dropped passes on one possession, a Tech punt that covered all of 30 yards — all of it drove Beamer nuts.

If not for the stinginess of Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster's group that day, Beamer's short list might've turned into a novel. Though Tech (1-1) likely can't afford another mistake-riddled effort if it expects to win Saturday at frenetic-paced ECU, Tech will need an inspired performance from its defense.

"It'd make a statement for us as a perimeter if we could go down there and play like we did the last time we went down there," said Foster, whose defense held ECU two years ago to 112 yards, including minus-15 rushing, and sacked quarterback Dominique Davis five times. "I think these guys are a talented football team."

The '11 game wasn't the only time in recent meetings ECU (2-0) has been an absolute pain for Tech. In 2010, Tech beat ECU 49-27 in Blacksburg, but only after the Hokies trailed by 10 points in the first half.

In 2009, Tech slugged its way to an ugly 16-3 win at ECU. ECU defeated Tech 27-22 in '08 in Charlotte, N.C. Tech slipped past ECU 17-7 in '07 in Blacksburg, after falling behind the Pirates 7-3 in the second quarter.

As Foster indicated, keeping ECU's hurry-up spread offense at arm's length Saturday will require sure-tackling and coverage by Tech's secondary, applying pressure on accurate quarterback Shane Carden and limiting yards after the catch. Tech made sure six of Davis' 20 completions went for 3 yards or less in the '11 game.

ECU is 22nd in the nation among 123 Football Bowl Subdivision programs in average passing yards per game (324.5), but it hasn't had a completion over 23 yards all season. It's 119th in rushing yards per game (72). Of course, running the ball isn't a primary objective anyway for ECU, which looks to wear down defenses and make substituting difficult by getting off a bunch of plays.

"Hopefully, we can get them behind the sticks where the quarterback will have to take more time in the pocket," said Tech defensive end James Gayle, a Bethel High graduate.

"If we can just get in the quarterback's face, get our hands up, sack him, then we'll be able to disrupt tempo."

Carden, who has completed 79.7 percent of his passes for 638 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions, has excelled in coach Ruffin McNeill's screen-heavy, short-passing attack. Justin Hardy, who has 20 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown, has been Carden's primary target out of a primarily four-wide receiver set.

"I don't know if I've seen a more accurate guy, to be honest with you," said Foster of Carden. "Right now, he's completing close to 80 percent of his passes. That's hard to do in pass scale [against no defensive players], man."

With 23 seasons as defensive assistant coach or defensive coordinator on his resume prior to becoming ECU's coach in 2010, McNeill has no trouble identifying the kind of mentality Foster exudes. It trickles down to Tech's defense, which enters the weekend fourth in the nation in total defense (184 yards per game).

"His personality and his brand and his candor always have a big imprint," McNeill said.

"They're going to be aggressive. They're going to be well-coached, fundamentally sound."